The chronicles of Salesian College has the following entry: ‘12/08/1938:
“… After supper all the Brothers and the Boys gathered around the Superiors’ table and there was a discussion on the ‘Sonada Motto’. Many favoured ‘Scientia (or Studium) in Caritate’, that is, ‘Knowledge (or Study) in Charity’. But ‘FLAMMA ARDENS ET LUCENS’, that is, ‘A Burning and Shining Flame’, was the favourite…
It is ‘A Burning and Shining Flame’ in more sense than one: materially/topographically or physically, situated in Gorabari village on National Highway 55, “SCS overlooks the Balasun valley, and at night when the lights are on, its imposing structure does give the impression of a big lighthouse to those who look at it from the various villages and tea-gardens situated in the valley below and on the opposite and surrounding hills…
In another sense SCS has been and should ever be ‘a burning and shining flame’. In the past fifty[82] years hundreds of young people have passed through this institution and it is here that they have lit the flame of their enthusiasm and of their [visionary] zeal which have made them in the Church ‘signs and bearers of the love of God for young people, especially those who are poor.’ (Const. art.2 of the Salesians of Don Bosco)
The SCS emblem which has been redesigned in this Golden Jubilee year [1988 and later with digital version in 2015] brings out even more clearly the deeper significance of the SCS motto: it graphically presents SALESIAN COLLEGE [SONADA-SILIGURI] in the light of its motto.
SALESIAN: In the centre of the emblem within the SCS arch bearing the name of the College is the burning and shining flame whose light spreads out in the form of a cross[added at the centre of the crest in2018]. It symbolizes Christ’s light of love that the [Sonada-Siliguri -Students and Faculty] try to experience and live in the Don Bosco Way.
COLLEGE: The burning and shining flame also symbolizes the intellectual knowledge that the [Educative Community] tries to acquire. The light of knowledge spreads out in the shape of a cross reminding him that his intellectual pursuits are not an end in themselves but meant to be at the service of Christ and the Salesian Mission. It also emphasizes the truth that true wisdom comes from God[/Divine Source] alone.
SONADA-[SILIGURI]: The hills and the pine trees [and the plains beyond]provide the context of the [inmates’] intellectual and religious pursuits. They remind [oneself] of the imperative need to reach out to the people around in genuine fellowship and service.
The globe which encloses the cross and the flame signifies that the [every member] form a part of the world community of Salesians committed to the same mission.
Thus the emblem is an eloquent assertion of a Sonadian’s [Salesian’s – be s/he be student or faculty at Salesian College Sonada or Siliguri] resolve to learn, to live and to spread the light of Christ in the Salesian way to all around in loving selfless service.” [- taken with minor adaptations necessitated by the reproduction in 2020 from the Golden Jubilee Souvenir, 1988]
